Amusing Monday: Endangered species emerge as art forms

Painting large murals of endangered species on exterior walls
across the U.S. is a way of “fostering connections between people
and the other forms of life that surround them,” according to Roger
Peet, a Portland artist who is leading the project, commissioned by
the Center for Biological Diversity.

Whale mural in Los Angeles //
Photo: Jess X. Chen

The latest mural, painted on a building in Los Angeles, shows a
blue whale breaching off the coast of an urban area with an
industrial skyline. The mural was painted from a massive stencil by
Brooklyn street artists Icy and Sot, who are brothers, according to
the website
“Brooklyn Street Art.” The mural is designed to inspire
protection for the whale and reduction of ocean pollution, the
artists said in an interview.

Mountain caribou mural in
Sandpoint, Idaho

The Center for Biological Diversity is perhaps best known for
suing the federal government to list and protect declining species,
but it has also been committed to public outreach, including the
distribution of
condoms featuring endangered species. The organization launched
the mural project to call attention to at-risk wildlife specific to
local communities where the murals are painted, according to the
CBD’s website on the mural project.

The first mural in the series, featuring a mountain caribou, was
painted in Sandpoint, Idaho, northeast of Spokane. This area of the
Selkirk Mountains is the last remaining territory for the caribou
in the lower 48 states. Mural artists Mazatl and Joy Mallari worked
with Peet on the project.

Arctic grayling mural in Butte,
Mont.

“The city of Sandpoint unanimously approved the mural project
for a prominent downtown building and passed a resolution
supporting recovery of the caribou and augmentation of the southern
Selkirk herd — exactly the kind of local support for endangered
species our project is designed to foster,” states the CBD’s
website.

The second mural, painted by Peet last summer in Butte, Mont.,
shows the Arctic grayling, a fish in the salmon family that was
once common in Northern Montana, the headwaters of the Missouri
River. Because of river diversions and pollution, the fish
population has declined dramatically. In the lower 48 states, the
fish survives only in a stretch of the Big Hole River near Butte.
The
Montana Standard has the story.

Monarch butterfly mural in
Minneapolis, Minn.

A monarch butterfly on a wall in South Minneapolis, Minn., is
the third mural in the series. In late summer, monarchs undergo
metamorphosis in Minnesota and other northern regions before
migrating to Mexico for the winter and then to the southern U.S.,
where they lay their eggs. Pesticide and development have taken a
toll on the monarch habitat and reduced their population by 80
percent over the past 20 years, according to the CBD website. Peet
worked with Barry Newman on the mural.

In November, a mural featuring the watercress darter was
completed in Birmingham, Ala. This small, brilliantly colored fish
is found only in the Birmingham area. Peet worked with Birmingham
artists Merrilee Challiss and Creighton Tynes on the mural.

Watercress darter mural in
Birmingham, Ala.Photo: Kyle Crider

“Birmingham was selected as the site of darter mural because
Alabama is a world hotspot for freshwater animal diversity, and the
center is working to protect hundreds of Alabama species from
extinction,” says a
news release from the Center for Biological Diversity.

Upcoming murals include a mussel — the pink mucket — in
Knoxville, Tenn., an aquatic salamander — the Ozark hellbender — in
St. Louis, Mo., multiple fish of the Colorado River on the Navajo
reservation in Arizona, and bull trout in Oakridge, Ore. Organizers
say more murals could be painted with additional funding and
support from local artists.

Painter Roger Peet, who continues to manage the mural project,
says the effort is built upon the biodiversity of individual
places:

“Those species embody an area’s natural history and contribute
to what makes it irreplaceable. They also have something to say
about the future, as many are in danger of going extinct. And when
we lose species, the places and lives we live become poorer and
shallower places as a result.

“To help bring these species into the light, we decided to paint
them on the walls… Whether that’s a fish in a river, a butterfly
flitting from plant to plant or a caribou chewing lichen off a tree
trunk, we’re bringing together artists and communities to create
big, bold images that will become part of the neighborhoods where
they’re created, making it a little easier for people to care about
the native species struggling to survive in their midst.”